{"id":492,"date":"2026-09-29T05:42:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.surfatrip.com\/blog\/?p=492"},"modified":"2026-09-29T05:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:42:49","slug":"what-types-of-beer-are-commonly-sold-in-bottles-4d8d-954eca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.surfatrip.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/29\/what-types-of-beer-are-commonly-sold-in-bottles-4d8d-954eca\/","title":{"rendered":"What types of beer are commonly sold in bottles?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone, if you\u2019ve ever wandered down the beer aisle at your local grocery store, bodega, or even that fancy craft beer bar, you\u2019ve probably noticed way more bottles than cans lined up on the shelves. As someone who\u2019s been in the beer bottles supply game for years\u2014working with breweries big and small, from the ones cranking out thousands of cases a day to the small-batch guys just starting out\u2014I get asked all the time: what types of beer actually sell most in bottles? It\u2019s not just random, right? There\u2019s a reason you\u2019ll never find a big pilsner in a 750ml corked bottle, or a hazy IPA in a squat 12oz stubby. Let\u2019s break this down, keep it real, no stuffy beer jargon, and maybe throw in a few little behind-the-scenes tea points from my side of the business. Beer Bottles<\/a><\/p>\n

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First off, let\u2019s get the basics out of the way: why even bottles? I know cans have blown up lately\u2014way more brewers are switching, and they\u2019re super practical for festivals, hiking, all that stuff. But bottles hold a soft spot for a lot of drinkers, and more importantly, they do certain beers way better. Light-sensitive beers, for example\u2014skip the cans, they\u2019re a no-go for anything that needs that fresh, crisp flavor. Now, onto the types that are most commonly bottled, and why they\u2019re the go-tos for breweries.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the OG, the one you\u2019ve been seeing since your dad was hitting up the corner store: Light Lagers. Think Budweiser, Coors Light, Heineken\u2014all that stuff. These are basically the backbone of the mass-produced beer market, and almost all of them come in bottles, right? Wait, but not just any bottles\u2014most are that standard 12oz longneck, right? The kind you can twist off (wait, no, some are pry-off, but most casual drinkers use a bottle opener) and that\u2019s super easy to hold. Why not cans? Partly brand identity\u2014light lagers have been bottled for decades, so switching would feel weird to their core customers. Also, light lagers are super carbonated, and they tend to stay fresher longer in dark glass. Oh, and another thing: a lot of these big brands use refillable bottles in some markets, which is a whole other ballgame, but in the US, it\u2019s mostly single-use. Fun fact: last year, one of my biggest clients that supplies light lagers to national grocery chains ordered like 10 million 12oz longnecks, easy. That\u2019s the kind of volume we deal with.<\/p>\n

Next up, Craft IPAs\u2014specifically hazy IPAs and West Coast IPAs, which have been dominating the craft scene for the last, what, 10 years? Everyone and their dog is making an IPA now, and 90% of them are bottled, not canned, at least for distribution beyond the local area. Why? Hazy IPAs are super delicate\u2014they get that fruity, juicy flavor from hops, right? And those hops break down when exposed to light, so you need that amber or dark glass to block UV rays. West Coast IPAs, which are more piney and bitter, also need that same protection. Most craft IPAs come in 12oz bottles too, but lately, we\u2019ve been seeing a lot of 16oz \u201ctall boys\u201d for IPAs\u2014people want more volume, and it\u2019s easier to take to a cookout. Wait, but I\u2019ll tell you a common mistake brewers make: don\u2019t put a hazy IPA in clear bottles, please. I\u2019ve had so many small brewers reach out saying they tried clear bottles for their new IPA, and within a month of sitting on store shelves, it tastes like skunk. Total waste of product, and a bad rep for them. So yeah, IPAs are a huge part of our sales\u2014craft breweries are always ordering more bottles, especially when they drop a new IPA series.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Stouts and Porters. Think Guinness, Guinness Draught in bottles, right? Or local craft stouts that taste like chocolate and coffee. These are usually in darker glass too, not just for light protection\u2014they\u2019re often higher ABV, so they need to show off that rich, bold flavor. Most stouts and porters come in 12oz or 16oz bottles, but you\u2019ll also see them in 22oz \u201cbombers\u201d for the more high-alcohol, barrel-aged stouts. Barrel-aged stouts are huge now\u2014people love saving them, drinking them over months, even years, and the corked bottles with a cap make that easy. I worked with a small craft brewery in Portland last year that does a barrel-aged stout every quarter, and they order 50,000 750ml bottles with custom labeling for each release. They sell out in 2 days every time. It\u2019s nuts, but that\u2019s how it works. Also, stouts hold carbonation really well in bottles, which is why they\u2019re so popular for bottling\u2014no flat beer here.<\/p>\n

Wait, what about Wheat Beers? Like Blue Moon, or German hefeweizens. Those are usually in clear bottles, right? Wait, hold on\u2014hefeweizens, the traditional German ones, are actually in clear bottles, but they\u2019re designed to be consumed super fresh, within a few months of brewing. They don\u2019t sit on shelves forever, so the light doesn\u2019t get a chance to mess with them as much. Wheat beers are light, citrusy, super refreshing, so bottling them makes sense because a lot of people drink them at bars and cookouts. You\u2019ll also see a lot of Belgian wheat beers, like Hoegaarden, in white-labeled bottles\u2014wait, no, still clear, but the white label blocks some light? Maybe a little, but mostly it\u2019s because they\u2019re meant to be drunk young. I\u2019ve noticed that US wheat beers are more likely to be in amber bottles now, actually\u2014breweries here are catching on that clear bottles can make them taste skunky if they sit too long. So that\u2019s a shift I\u2019ve seen in the last 5 years.<\/p>\n

Oh, and Sours and Wild Ales. Those are the fancy, funky beers that craft nerds go crazy for. They\u2019re usually in 375ml or 750ml bottles, often with corks and wire cages, like wine almost. Because they\u2019re high-quality, often aged in barrels too, and people want them to stay fresh for as long as possible. Sours are super sensitive, so dark glass is a must, and the corked bottles let them age a little, mellow out, develop more complex flavors. I work with a few small sour breweries that order these custom corked bottles, and they only make small batches\u2014like 10,000 bottles total per release. They sell them for $20+ a bottle, so the packaging matters a lot here. It\u2019s not just a container, it\u2019s part of the product\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s talk about the ones you might not expect that are mostly bottled: Fruit Beers and Hard Seltzers? No, wait hard seltzers are mostly cans now, right? Fruit beers, though\u2014like a raspberry ale or a mango wheat\u2014those are often bottled. They\u2019re sweet, fruity, and again, sensitive to light, so dark glass keeps the fruit flavor from fading. A lot of fruit beers come in 12oz bottles with fun, bright labels, so they stand out on the shelf. Last summer, we had a big order for a mango beer that a regional brewery was launching, and they wanted bright orange labels on amber bottles\u2014total eye-catcher. Sold like hotcakes.<\/p>\n

Now, why not other types? Like what about pilsners? Wait, German pilsners are often in clear bottles, but again, meant to be fresh. But American-style pilsners, like Pabst Blue Ribbon, are in amber bottles, and they\u2019ve been around forever. Ales, not IPA\u2014like amber ales, pale ales, those are usually in amber bottles too, same as IPAs, just less trendy. What about high-ABV beers, like barleywines? Those are definitely in corked 750ml bottles, aged for years, same as stouts.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s get real about what drives this. It\u2019s not just flavor\u2014though that\u2019s a big part. It\u2019s also distribution, shelf space, brand identity. Breweries want their product to look good on the shelf, stand out from the crowd. They want people to recognize their bottles, so a lot of them do custom labeling, custom glass colors, even unique bottle shapes. We work with brewers to make that happen\u2014some want a skinny neck, some want a wider body, some want embossed logos on the glass. That\u2019s the fun part of the job, honestly. Getting to see a new beer from the idea stage to the shelf, with the bottle we supplied being a part of it.<\/p>\n

Another thing I hear a lot: people say bottles are less sustainable than cans. And yeah, sometimes that\u2019s true, but a lot of bottles are recyclable now, and refillable bottles are making a comeback too. I know a few breweries that use refillable 12oz bottles, so they send them back to the brewery, wash them, and refill them\u2014way less waste than single-use cans or bottles. That\u2019s a big trend in Europe, and it\u2019s starting to pick up in the US, too. We\u2019ve been investing in more refillable bottle lines, because that\u2019s where the market\u2019s going, especially as people care more about the environment.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s touch on the different bottle sizes, too, because that ties into the types. 12oz is the standard for everyday beers\u2014light lagers, IPAs, wheat beers, all that. 16oz tall boys are for IPAs, stouts, anything you want more of, perfect for a night in or a cookout. 22oz bombers are for big, bold beers, barrel-aged stouts, strong ales\u2014you don\u2019t need to drink a whole one at once, they\u2019re meant to be shared or sipped over a few days. 750ml bottles are for those fancy sours, barrel-aged beers, the ones people collect or save for special occasions. We order all these sizes, every week, depending on what our clients need.<\/p>\n

Let me throw in a little anecdote to make this real. A few months back, I got a call from a microbrewery in Denver that was launching a new hazy IPA, and they needed 50,000 amber 12oz bottles by the end of the month. They\u2019d switched to a new distributor, and their old supplier let them down. We had the bottles in stock, so we got them shipped out in 3 days, and they texted me a photo a week later\u2014their IPA was flying off the shelves, and a lot of people commented on how fresh it tasted. That\u2019s why we do this, right? Making sure breweries have the bottles they need so their beer can taste the way it\u2019s supposed to.<\/p>\n

So to wrap this up, the most common types of beer in bottles are: light lagers, hazy and West Coast IPAs, stouts and porters (especially barrel-aged), wheat beers, sours and wild ales, and fruit beers. Each has a reason for being in a bottle\u2014flavor protection, shelf life, brand identity, serving size. Cans are great for a lot of things, but bottles still hold their own, and they\u2019re not going anywhere anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re a brewery, big or small, looking for reliable beer bottles\u2014whether you need standard 12oz longnecks, custom corked 750ml bottles, amber glass for IPAs, whatever\u2014hit us up. We work with breweries across the country, can handle small batches for new startups or massive orders for national brands, and we know how important that bottle is to your beer. Don\u2019t leave your next launch waiting on bottle suppliers that don\u2019t get the beer game. Reach out, let\u2019s chat about what you need.<\/p>\n

Drinking Glassware<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

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  1. Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine. (2022). The Science of Beer Packaging: Why Bottles Matter More Than You Think.<\/li>\n
  2. Brewers Association. (2023). Beer Packaging Trends in the U.S. Craft Market.<\/li>\n
  3. German Brewers Federation. (2021). Traditional Beer Packaging Practices and Sustainability.<\/li>\n
  4. The Spruce Eats. (2022). Guide to Beer Bottle Types and Sizes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Aohui Packaging Products Co., Ltd.<\/a>
    We’re well-known as one of the leading beer bottles manufacturers in China, also support custom service. Please feel free to wholesale customized beer bottles at competitive price from our factory. Welcome to view our website for more information.
    Address: Baisheng Building, Zhongshan Road, Shinan District, Qingdao
    E-mail: aohuipack@qq.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.ahglassbottle.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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